Robbery in Progress

Six

That night, I sat on my couch in my pajamas, holding a glass of wine in my hands. Despite my hesitations, the date went well. For the first time, I had opened up to someone about my past and my relationships. To top it all off, Derek opened up to me and I could tell it was just as hard for him to talk about his past as it was for me. I knew that I told Paul I would call him later, but I forgot with everything that happened on the date and didn't. I knew I would hear about it the next morning, even if I did have the day off.

"Hello?" I had just gotten out of the shower the next morning and heard my phone ringing.

"Jen, why didn't you call last night? Did everything go okay?"

"Paul..."

"Did anything happen? Julie has been planting things in my head that could have happened and now I want to know."

"Paul, yes. Everything went okay last night on the date."

"And?"

"And what? That's it."

"No details?" I heard Julie's voice coming through.

"Sorry Jen, I had it on speaker because Julie wanted to hear." I lightly chuckled.

"It's alright. And no, nothing else happened. We had dinner and talked for a little bit and then I went home. That's it, I promise."

"Well, what's he look like? You two have seen him but I haven't had the chance to. Is he good looking?"

"Julie!"

"Oh, come on Jen. Is he?"

"I'm not answering that."

"Well, how did talking go? You really don't talk much to me, and I'm your work partner."

"Paul, the talking went well. Are you finished now, because I want to go get a coffee and go for a walk?"

"Yes, I'm done. Have fun." I hung up and headed out.

The coffee that morning hit different than any other day. I drove a couple minutes to the park and got out to go for a walk. The weather was started to warm up and I always did love the warmer weather. I liked to be outdoors. My peaceful walk was cut short when my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and took a seat on a nearby park bench.

"Hello?"

"I enjoyed our date last night."

"Derek?"

"Yes, it's Derek. What? Did you go on another date last night besides with me?"

"Of course not. So why are you calling?"

"I wanted to tell you that I enjoyed our date last night and it was really different than others I've been on. I have never opened up like that before."

"Me either."

"So, what are you doing? It's so pretty out."

"I'm actually at the park right now. You interrupted my walk."

"Oh, well please forgive me." I chuckled.

"And what are you doing?"

"Trying to hit on a beautiful, smart girl." I wish I didn't, but I blushed.

"Oh, really?"

"May I come join you?"

I was freaking out. It hasn't even been 24 hours since our date and he is already calling me, wanting to spend more time with me. Isn't there a rule against that? I could not break that rule... My heart was beating fast. I did enjoy our date but then again, I did not want to let my guard down so soon after everything that has happened to me in my past relationships. The last thing I wanted to do was rush into anything and end up getting hurt again. I couldn't do that. I just couldn't.

"You know, I'm actually quite tired from work yesterday and our date. I was about to leave anyway and go home. I think a nap would be good for me right now."

"Oh. Okay." I could hear the disappointment in his voice. I couldn't find any words to say to him so I just hung up the phone and threw away my coffee. I stood there for a moment, thinking about what I had just done to Derek, before getting into my car and going home.

I lied about being tired and wanting to take a nap just so he wouldn't come see me. I needed to talk to someone, but Paul wasn't the answer. I needed a woman to talk to.

"Julie, I'm a monster. I'm a horrible person."

"Jen, slow down. What's going on? Tell me what happened."

"After I got off the phone with you and Paul this morning, I went to get a coffee and then to the park to go for a walk. Everything was going great until Derek called."

"What did he say?"

"He said he just wanted me to know that he enjoyed our date last night."

"Well, that's good Jen. What's the problem then?"

"He asked what I was doing and I told him. Julie, he wanted to come see me."

"He must really like you. Did you tell him yes?"

"No."

"Well, what did you say?"

"I lied. I told him I was tired from work yesterday and then our date and I was about to leave to go home and take a nap."

"Jen, do you like this man?" I appreciated Julie staying calm on the phone because I was a nervous wreck.

"I don't know. I mean, how would anyone know that?"

"Well, did you enjoy the date last night?"

"Yes."

"Would you like to do something like that again and talk to him?"

"Yeah...I mean, I guess so."

"Then Jen, honey, you just need to talk to him and tell him how you feel. I've known you since you and Paul became partners. You are always so closed off. If you want to have people in your life, you need to open up a little and talk to them. Next time, try not to freak out. But the best thing for you to do is explain to him that you want to take things slow. Open up to him Jen. It will be best, I promise. Of course, if you need anything else, you can call me."

"Thanks Julie."

I knew what I had to next.

A/N: Thank you all for reading! I'm sorry for not updating sooner but I have been so busy. However, inspiration struck (along with boredom caused by COVID-19) so I just couldn't help myself but to write this. I went back and read my other chapters and edited a little bit. I hope you all enjoy and please click the little heart if you do! :)